The Church is Dependant upon The Rock and Each Other

This great rock embedded in the ground, firmly fixed and immovable reminds me of our rock, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 18 is one of my favorite songs as it paints a picture of the lengths to which God went through to save His own.

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and 

my deliverer, 

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, 

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, 

my stronghold.

He is our firm foundation.  He is the rock of our salvation.  He is strong, firm and unshakable.  He is who we are to build our lives on.  The church is dependent on Him.

Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church.

In Matthew 16:18 He declared that Peter was the rock on which he would build the church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.


An organism called a lichen uses rocks as a substrate.  Lichens need the right components to grow.  The main requirement is that the substrate does not move.

Christians are like lichens.  In order to grow spiritually we need a stable footing.  We require the solid footing of Christ and His word.

The substrate where  a lichen grows must not only provide stability, but minerals, good air flow, exposure to the sun and rain or moisture in the form of dew.

Lichens do not have a waxy cuticle like plants and therefore cannot maintain water during a drought.  The rely on the process of "poikilohydry".  This process allows them to take in enough water, when it is readily available, and use it in the process of photosynthesis.  However,  if they are lacking water, as in a summer dearth, they "turn off". This turning off means they are dormant and the lichen become brittle and pale in color.  

We too need the water that the Rock of our salvation provides.  We need to drink deeply of Him as we are in the word.  Being washed by the water of His word, so that we can grow into maturity in Christ.

When we are not exposed the the life giving elements found only in the Word of God and in His presence, we soon become spiritually dry, brittle and anemic.   We are unable to be a source of refreshment and nourishment, when we ourselves are not being fed.

Our presence can provide a resting place for others when we are filled with the good things from the Rock, the Son, the Word, and the Spirit.

Lichens grow in a community.  They are actually two organisms supporting one another.  Lichens are both fungus and algae.  The algae provides food for the fungus through the process of photosynthesis, while the fungus provide the support that the algae needs to do it's job.

This relationship is much like that of the church.  When we are all attached to the rock, we can support each other and feed each other by sharing our lives together.  Lichens live in community and grow best when they are dependent on one another.  So it is with God's people.  We are to cling to the Rock, drinking deeply form Him, basking in His glory and being bathed in the oxygen of His Spirit, all so that we can support each other's growth!

Lichens stay put.  They rely on their substrate and their surroundings to provide the much needed elements for growth.  They rely on one another in a symbiotic way.   We need to rely on Jesus and each other in the same way so that we can all grow into maturity in Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-16

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,  so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,  from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.